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Rating: 
Summary: The Evolution of Evolution
Review: As Henry Drummond noted in 1883, "This is the age of the evolution of Evolution. All thoughts that the Evolutionist works with, all theories and generalizations, have themselves evolved and are now being evolved."
This remarkable work on the Vestiges of Robert Chambers is itself a history of the evolution of evolution, describing in wonderful detail the context of a book that perfectly fits Drummond's description. Springing from eighteenth century intimations, first theorized by Lamarck, the idea of evolution finally bursts into public consciousness with Chambers' Vestiges, whose sudden popularity, if not notoriety, made it one of the first modern bestsellers in an age of technological breakthroughs in communications, transport, and printing. Laying the groundwork for laters theories, it nonetheless is too often dismissed as pseudo-scientific when, in fact, the author was aware of certain aspects of the pre-Darwinian ideas of evolution that only now are resurfacing, after being shunted aside by the Darwin tide to come. The account in this work is an engaging hybrid of cultural history mixed into the biography of Chambers' book, and is useful for the student of evolution in its account of the social relations of science, from the gentleman scientist to the grub street popularizers, and indirectly brings to life the later relationship of Huxley to Darwin. The age of Darwin in which we live has made him the sole authority and source of a science of evolution and this distorts the facts, and has obscured the reputation of this and other books. Indeed part of the confusion over selectionist theories sprang from the need for Darwin to artificially separate himself from previous ideas of evolution, by a novelty of claims, since the idea of evolution had seen its foundations laid. It is good to remember the full tale. The reality is that Vestiges was the first thunderclap of the evolutionary idea, whose correct intimations mixed with much speculative confusion were filtered out of the positivist account of Darwin, that provoked its own firestorm of reactions, for not the least reason that it was as evolutionary as the work of Chambers, and did not truly foot the bill for a theory of descent.
Rating:
Summary: The Evolution of Evolution
Review: As Henry Drummond noted in 1883, "This is the age of the evolution of Evolution. All thoughts that the Evolutionist works with, all theories and generalizations, have themselves evolved and are now being evolved."
This remarkable work on the Vestiges of Robert Chambers is itself a history of the evolution of evolution, describing in wonderful detail the context of a book that perfectly fits Drummond's description. Springing from eighteenth century intimations, first theorized by Lamarck, the idea of evolution finally bursts into public consciousness with Chambers' Vestiges, whose sudden popularity, if not notoriety, made it one of the first modern bestsellers in an age of technological breakthroughs in communications, transport, and printing. Laying the groundwork for laters theories, it nonetheless is too often dismissed as pseudo-scientific when, in fact, the author was aware of certain aspects of the pre-Darwinian ideas of evolution that only now are resurfacing, after being shunted aside by the Darwin tide to come. The account in this work is an engaging hybrid of cultural history mixed into the biography of Chambers' book, and is useful for the student of evolution in its account of the social relations of science, from the gentleman scientist to the grub street popularizers, and indirectly brings to life the later relationship of Huxley to Darwin. The age of Darwin in which we live has made him the sole authority and source of a science of evolution and this distorts the facts, and has obscured the reputation of this and other books. Indeed part of the confusion over selectionist theories sprang from the need for Darwin to artificially separate himself from previous ideas of evolution, by a novelty of claims, since the idea of evolution had seen its foundations laid. It is good to remember the full tale. The reality is that Vestiges was the first thunderclap of the evolutionary idea, whose correct intimations mixed with much speculative confusion were filtered out of the positivist account of Darwin, that provoked its own firestorm of reactions, for not the least reason that it was as evolutionary as the work of Chambers, and did not truly foot the bill for a theory of descent.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but a little tedious
Review: Don't get me wrong, I liked the book, the problem is it seems to me James Secord digress too much. It's a good thing to know the context at which the events took place, but too much detail sometimes makes reading hard. Secord definitively can't be accused of superfluos, he really did a profound investigation and a great effort, though a little hard sometimes, the book still is worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting history, poor epistemology
Review: Unlike many of the horrible, theory-driven products of American graduate schools, Victorian Sensation is well written (despite occasional lapses into jargon) and readers can learn a lot about Victorian culture in the first half of the 19th century. Mr. Secord reads carefully and is sensitive to the nuances and social context of what he is reading. This makes for good history. He provides a finely detailed account of how Vestiges was received within different social groups and how the definition of science itself was developing during the period. I'm not sure why he is so surprised that people interpret the same information in different ways. All communication falls into an existing state of affairs. As for the concept of genius, anyone who studies any subject in depth will find that all works are built upon a foundation provided by others. There is no other way. This understanding does not diminish Darwin's achievements; it merely puts journalistic excesses into perspective. Further, hero worship encourages as many people as it discourages.The real problem with this work lies in his epistemology, which is shoddy beyond measure. To wit: "The texts of science have no meaning apart from what readers make out of them, yet -ironically - they aspire to be a transcript of the truth of nature, needing no interpretation." Historians and scientists alike may well be confused about many of the details of how science developed, but Secord is a reader who can make little sense of science. He seems to be at home in the emotional, blustering, and over-moralized world our ancestors lived in before they learned how to evaluate the world with some degree of objectivity (full objectivity is impossible, of course). This was the problem the 19th century set itself. The fact that this rationalism was carried too far does not mean it needs to be rejected in toto. I am old enough to remember the distortions of print culture and I find those fostered by electronic media and espoused by Mr. Secord to be no improvement. All symbolic systems distort. The current obsession with cultural relativism is no more than an unconscious mimicry of habits encouraged by television, which favors rhetoric (he said-she said) over objectivity. Mr. Secord and his ilk consider themselves to be on the cutting edge of historical criticism when they really represent a new orthodoxy fostered by television. Secord is hardly the chief offender here. He retains both a readable style and knowledge of how to gather and evaluate evidence. He would be a better historian if he would rid himself of his philosophical pretensions.
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